Obituary: Full life of an Optician editor

Active until the end, Philip Mullins spent the final 15 years of his life in Cornwall where he volunteered for Coastwatch, an organisation that monitors sea traffic around the UK coast. He spent his time walking in the countryside with his dog, tending the garden and enjoying the company of his family.

Mullins was born in Christchurch, New Zealand, in 1928, his son Justin told Optician. He was educated at St Bede’s College which instilled his lifelong love of rugby. He was steeped in the ways of journalism from an early age as his father was sports editor at the Press, a regional paper in New Zealand’s South Island.